Rippling's rapid growth driven by tailored HR tech for Australia

Techday NZ

2 days ago

Australian companies expanding globally are driving growth in the HR technology sector, with workforce management platform Rippling reporting rapid momentum since its market entry in 2024.
Rippling's investment in Australia has included growing its local team to over 80 employees, opening new offices in Sydney, and launching a suite of products tailored to meet the nation's distinct regulatory and operational needs.
Team expansion
The company's Australian operations have seen its headcount increase more than threefold in the past year, supported by active hiring across departments such as Marketing, Product Management, Compliance, Sales, Account Management, Solutions Consulting, Implementation, HR Advisory, and Payroll Operations. To house its expanding team, Rippling moved into a new Sydney office, designed for up to 100 staff and equipped with modern meeting and collaboration spaces. Key appointments in the region include Kellie Clenton as Product Lead for ANZ, Dan Shaw as Sales Director for Global Solutions APAC, and Andrew Rae as Head of SMB Sales.
Customer growth and partnerships
Rippling's Australia-based client list now features Sitemate, Omniscient Neurotechnology (O8t), AssuranceLab, Mentorloop, Cortical Labs and Liven. The company has also entered partnerships with local and regional players, including technology businesses such as Nium and Carta, HR consultancies and financial services firms including Loop Business Consulting and Zest, venture capital firms such as Square Peg, Blackbird and Investible, and organisations like Innovation Bay, the Australian Payroll Association, the Australian HR Institute, and Fintech Australia.
Product localisation and launches
To address Australian regulatory and business needs, Rippling has introduced a suite of new tools. These include a Workplace Gender Equality Agency (WGEA) pre-built report template to support compliance, a warehouse and inventory management solution aimed at improving employee onboarding and offboarding processes, and a custom training course builder for employee learning and development. In addition, the company launched App Studio, a no-code platform allowing businesses to create internal applications rapidly - which local company Liven cited as saving them more than 20 hours a week.
Refining for local compliance "We're excited by how quickly Rippling's approach to workforce management has resonated with Australian businesses over the past year. From day one, we committed to localising our platform to meet Australia's unique requirements, and that investment is paying off, both for our clients and for the wider business. As we continue refining our product for this market and continue to expand our offering across APAC, we're confident that our emphasis on regional alignment, regulatory compliance, and on-the-ground expertise will keep driving success for our customers and partners alike."
said Matt Loop, Vice President and Head of Asia at Rippling.
User feedback
Bradley Steinbach, People and Culture Manager at AssuranceLab, described the effect of Rippling on their operations: "Having all our information in one place has simplified compliance and enabled better decision-making. The consolidation into Rippling's system has been a huge timesaver, streamlining onboarding and payroll processes significantly. There's absolutely no way I would have been able to handle onboarding 18 people over two months without Rippling."
Aaron Rau, Head of People and Culture at Liven, commented: "Rippling has been transformative for us. It's intuitive, efficient, and scalable. The platform's flexibility gives us confidence to expand and adapt as we grow, and it helps ensure we're compliant and operating efficiently. I couldn't see my team being as effective as they are without Rippling - it's a one-stop shop that just works."
Future plans
Rippling has indicated plans to further develop its rostering and payroll tools, as well as to introduce services tailored for new APAC markets as part of its regional expansion strategy. The company disclosed a capital raise of USD $450 million, resulting in a valuation of USD $16.8 billion, with reported annual revenue growth of over 30%.
This expansion aligns with a broader trend where Australian enterprises seek external markets while facing local regulatory complexities, placing continued demand on HR technology solutions designed to streamline and centralise workforce management and compliance.